11 Robotics Applications in Banking and Finance

11 Robotics Applications in Banking and Finance: Robotics is revolutionizing the way many banking and financial companies do business through something called robotic process automation (RPA).  It’s essentially a software-based virtual workforce that frees up human employees to focus on less tedious tasks that only humans do well.  One article described RPA as “analogous to those giant, yellow-armed robots deployed on factory floors in that it changes the calculus of outsourcing/hiring decisions by automating labor-intensive tasks.”

In terms of specific business benefits, RPA runs the gamut from customer service and processing to fraud detection, auditing, compliance, and more.  It is also used to automate and increase reporting accuracy, which involves sifting through a large amount of detail and data and is a key part of the compliance process.

Robots are rapidly taking over finance in a variety of ways that are saving industry millions and automating time-consuming tasks.  Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps financial institutions with everything from financial modeling to invoice processing.

Here are 11 ways robotics application is revitalizing the financial sector.

1. Trade Financing

• Blue Prism
• Location: London, England

How it’s using robotics: Through its software, Blue Prism provides banks with a digital workforce that performs matching and validation, then delivers the complete results to the institution’s document management systems.

2. Trade Settlement

• BNY Mellon
• Location: New York, New York

How robotics is used: BNY Mellon uses RPA to automatically settle transactions and confirm proper allocation.  In the past, that time-consuming function was done manually.

3. Automated Bank Account Opening

• WorkFusion
• Location: New York, New York

How robotics is used: To provide customers with an easier onboarding process while increasing accuracy and productivity, WorkFusion eliminates the time-consuming identity confirmation process by digitizing licenses and employing native optical character recognition.  After cognitive bots extract information and verify identification, an RPA bot transfers the verified data to the WorkFusion system.

4. Report Automation

• EnableSoft
• Location: Lake Mary, Florida

How Robotics Are Used: Enable Soft’s easy-to-use Foxtrot software enables banks to automate a host of tasks, including labor-intensive reporting.  Using drag and drop tools, Foxtrot can be trained by employees who can perform the task manually.

5. Credit Card Reconciliation

• Event
• Location: Chicago, Illinois

How it’s using robotics: Among the many functions performed by Evention’s RPA technology is credit card reconciliation.  That means consolidating data from multiple systems to validate revenue accuracy from point of sale to general ledger and credit card processor submissions.

6. Fraud Detection and Prevention

• PayPal
• Location: San Jose, California

How robotics is used: Online auction giant PayPal uses RPA, among other technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to detect suspicious activity and differentiate between real and false alarms.

7. Normative Compliance

• UiPath
• Location: New York, New York

How robotics are used: By implementing RPA to eliminate repetitive compliance tasks and free up human staff for work that involves reasoning and judgment, qualities that robots do not (yet) possess to any advanced degree, UiPath has a central record which stores and monitors the robot.  activities so that the information is easily accessible for audits and can be updated to reflect changes in regulations.

8. Customer Service

• USAA
• Location: San Antonio, Texas

How it’s using robotics: To improve customer services, USAA deploys virtual agents (along with artificial intelligence) to make interactions with its human customers feel more real.  The company refers to this ability to understand behavior and preferences as “digital empathy.”

9. Billing

• Billtrust
• Location: Hamilton, New Jersey

How robotics is used: Using a cloud based Key Total AR platform, KeyBank employs Billtrust’s Quantum Payment Cycle Management software for automated delivery of invoices and other accounts receivable services, effectively eliminating repetitive (and time-consuming) tasks.) and fully optimizing customer processes.

10. Wealth Management

• Pegasystems
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

How robotics is used: In the realm of wealth management, Pega uses artificially intelligent robotics technology to automate and personalize communications.  In doing so, the company aims to create a more intelligent, productive and proactive business model.

11. Mortgage Processing

• ITUC
• Location: Orlando, Florida

How Robotics Are Used: By using CSI’s Intellidact AI Process Automation software, real estate professionals can reap the benefits of fast document access, automated data entry, and 24-hour processing, all of which contribute to increased office efficiency, lower staffing costs and more.  strong data integrity.